During the Black Death, incoming ships were forced to wait for 40 days to prevent possible infection. The Italian word for 40, “quaranta”, is where we get the word “quarantine”.
A previously brilliant-blue Yellowstone hot spring is turning green…
A previously brilliant-blue Yellowstone hot spring is turning green as a result of tourists throwing ‘good luck’ coins into it.
In Iran, boys can’t be held responsible for a crime under the age…
In Iran, boys can’t be held responsible for a crime under the age of 15. For girls, the age of criminal responsibility is 9.
Hallucinations can occur in any sensory modality—visual…
Hallucinations can occur in any sensory modality—visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), equilibrioceptive (balance), nociceptive (harm), thermoceptive (temperature), and chronoceptive (time).
There are only 2 countries in the world whose flags contain neither…
There are only 2 countries in the world whose flags contain neither red, white, nor blue: Jamaica and Mauritania.
George Washington did not…
George Washington did not, in fact, have wooden teeth.
East St. Louis has a higher murder rate than Honduras, the…
East St. Louis has a higher murder rate than Honduras, the country with the highest murder rate in the world.
More than 900 American troops were alive at the end of the Korean War…
More than 900 American troops were alive at the end of the Korean War but were never released by the North Koreans. In 1996, as many as 15 of them might have still been alive.
In 1681, a white woman married an African slave in colonial Maryland, even…
In 1681, a white woman married an African slave in colonial Maryland, even though she knew that doing so would condemn her to a life of slavery.
Nikon was accused of racist face-detection software – when Asian faces were photographed…
Nikon was accused of racist face-detection software – when Asian faces were photographed, a message would pop up on the camera screen asking, “Did someone blink?”